Rise of Regional States from 13th to 18th Century

A large number of regional states continued to exist after the thirteenth century but there were changes in the ruling dynasties and geography of these states.

The Delhi Sultanate expanded as a result of the annexation of the states like Bengal, Bihar, Gujarat, Malwa, various Rajput states of Rajasthan, like Ranthambor, Jalore, Nagore, Ajmer, the Deccan states of Warangal, Telengana, Yadavas of Deogir, and the southern states of the Hoysalas of Dwarsamudra, Pandyas of Madurai, and so on.

The states that were annexed to the Sultanate formed various provinces and were placed under the administration of the provincial governors. From the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate in the thirteenth century till its downfall in the fifteenth century, there was a constant interaction between the provinces that were once upon a time independent states and the centre, that is, Delhi. However, rebellions from these areas never seized. As a prince, Muhammmad bin Tughlaq spent his entire career in crushing the rebellions in the Deccan, Orissa and Bengal.

Though these regions were now a part of the Delhi Sultanate, the regional characteristics of language, art, literature and religion remained. In fact, when Islam reached here, it acquired a regional flavour. These states already had settlements of Muslim merchants and Muslims employed in the army. Though there was hardly any regional ruling dynasty, the provincial governors of the Sultanate allied with the local rajas and zamindars and asserted their independence.

Most of the regional states that came up after the fourteenth century when the Delhi Sultanate was declining were a result of the rebellions of the governors. The establishment of Vijayanagar and the Bahamani were a result of the assertion of power by the provincial officers, like Harihara and Bukka and Alauddin Hasan Bahman Shah respectively.

During the same period, Bengal in the east and Multan and Sind in the west became independent. Feroz Shah Tughlaq tried to regain the lost territories but could not do so. He tried unsuccessfully to take over Bengal. He attacked and plundered Jajnagar (Orissa) but did not annex it. He plundered Kangra and suppressed revolts in Gujarat and Thatta.

With the death of Feroz Shah Tughlaq in 1338, the decline of the Sultanate began. A large number of local governors became powerful and asserted their independence in the provinces. The relationship between the Sultan and the nobles worsened. The conflict with the local rulers and zamindars as well as regional and geographical tensions weakened the Sultanate further.

The declining Sultanate received the final blow with the invasions of Timur in 1398 AD. Timur was a Turk who had come from Central Asia to plunder the wealth of India. Timur entered Delhi and mercilessly killed both the Hindus and Muslims and massacred women and children as well.

Fifteen years after the Timur’s raids in Delhi, the Delhi Sultanate declined. The Sultanates in Gujarat, Malwa and Jaunpur near Varanasi emerged as powerful regional kingdom. Gujarat and Jaunpur were constantly engaged in tension with the Lodhis of the Delhi Sultanate (1451 to 1526 AD).

New regional states independent of the Delhi sultanate arose in Central and South India too, out of which the prominent ones were the Gajapatis of Orissa, the Bahamanis and the Vijayanagara Empire. The Lodhi Sultans like Bahlol Lodhi (1451-1485) and Sikander Lodhi (1489-1526) tried to keep these regional kingdoms under control. Finally, during the rule of Ibrahim Lodhi (1517-1526), Bihar declared its independence. Daulat Khan, the governor of Punjab rebelled and invited Babur to invade India in 1526.

With the establishment of the Mughal Empire in 1526 AD, and its expansion in the later period, the ruling dynasties in the regional states gradually lost their power and these states over a period of time became the part of the Mughal Empire. But the regional features of language, art, literature and religion continued with changes.

With the decline of the Mughals in the eighteenth century, there were rebellions of the provincial governors and a few annexed states declared their independence. As a result new regional kingdoms arose, for instance, Punjab, Bengal, Awadh, Hyderabad, Mysore and the Marathas.